2012 Nissan Juke AWD/CVT

[JaxxaLuca]

For me, purchasing my first car was a big deal, and I had almost no idea what I wanted just a couple of years ago. A sedan or a coupe would have been very easy to drive. A Jeep would have done it all, but I could get so much more vehicle for that kind of money. I absolutely love FJs and 4Runners, but I didn't want to jump straight into a big SUV. Looked around for a long time at AWD crossovers, the Subarus have an offroad pedigree, but I've almost come to expect people modifying them.

But there was one vehicle on the streets that would always catch my eye--
The rally stylistic cues, the fastback/hatchback silhouette, the accentuated, almost aggressive fender design...
If only it was wider... and taller...

I've had tons of crazy ideas for car mods,
But, to me, this one seemed to be cheap, straightforward, and pretty much a no-brainer.

That being said, I've only just begun, going about 40mm higher on suspension and moving up to 245/65R17s from the stock 215/55s. It rides and looks so good that I seriously don't understand why Nissan didn't just make the car this way from factory...

 

[NGAJeeper]

Well I can honestly say that I have never seen a lifted Juke, and honestly didn't even know that it could be done but it doesn't look bad!! What kind of offroad aftermarket do those have?

 

[Gothere]

Love it! One of my friends has the turbo Juke and it is extremely fun. They are good cars to drive, I was very surprised.

 

[Cody Stewart]

Out of every rig on this forum, I am most excited about this one. Take that Juke and make it yours! ...and keep us posted.

 

[Bug out 1]

certainly a different approach. Cant wait to see whats next for the little guy and what kind of places you will be able to take it.

 

[JaxxaLuca]

Well I can honestly say that I have never seen a lifted Juke, and honestly didn't even know that it could be done but it doesn't look bad!! What kind of offroad aftermarket do those have?

As far as I've seen, there is almost no offroad aftermarket parts specifically for the Juke. I've seen one heavily customized Juke out of Taiwan, but I could never get any info on it. There are a small handful of people in the US that claim to be "offroad" on the Juke forums, one used a coilover setup to get the lift, and another took theirs to a custom suspension shop (and basically got their front struts botched, there was a lot of drama)

I was lucky enough to stumble upon an Ebay seller from Russia called Tema4x4 who was selling 45mm polyurethane spring and strut spacers that claimed to fit the Juke, and I had gotten them installed professionally with no problems!
I think the stock axles can handle a bit more height than that, but going higher than 45mm is going to require a little fabrication and custom parts.
And of course, getting in touch with a good fabricator is going to be inevitable, but that's time and $$$ I don't have.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

Nice build mate! I actually just ordered the exact same lift from Tema4x4 for our Outlander Sport! Hope to get it put in soon. Looking good so far!

 

[flyingnome]

Awesome car! I rode in an RS with the recaro buckets and it was really fun. Love the look of the bigger tires on there, looking forward to see the upcoming adventures.

And purchasing a first car is a big deal! So congrats with that aspect as well.

 

[NGAJeeper]

As far as I've seen, there is almost no offroad aftermarket parts specifically for the Juke. I've seen one heavily customized Juke out of Taiwan, but I could never get any info on it. There are a small handful of people in the US that claim to be "offroad" on the Juke forums, one used a coilover setup to get the lift, and another took theirs to a custom suspension shop (and basically got their front struts botched, there was a lot of drama)

I was lucky enough to stumble upon an Ebay seller from Russia called Tema4x4 who was selling 45mm polyurethane spring and strut spacers that claimed to fit the Juke, and I had gotten them installed professionally with no problems!
I think the stock axles can handle a bit more height than that, but going higher than 45mm is going to require a little fabrication and custom parts.
And of course, getting in touch with a good fabricator is going to be inevitable, but that's time and $$$ I don't have.

Have you checked cross compatibility with other Nissan vehicles? I don't know the first thing about Nissans but is there a chance that the coilovers from say a pathfinder would have the same comparability?

 

[JaxxaLuca]

Have you checked cross compatibility with other Nissan vehicles? I don't know the first thing about Nissans but is there a chance that the coilovers from say a pathfinder would have the same comparability?

The Tema4x4 spacers are branded as a generic spacer and they list all the Nissan vehicles that share the same strut bolt pattern. The Juke seems to share struts with the Leaf and the Sentra - their lighter vehicles, which makes sense considering the stock Juke is only 3100-3300 pounds.
At this point, I don't think a suspension upgrade is necessary, but the more off-road miles I put on it, the better I'll know ;)
also, just stumbling across a strut that somehow happens to get me the exact travel and height that I want AND plays nice with my front geometry sounds pretty unlikely -- I think I tried once to look for struts by length and almost no retailers get that technical.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

Mine have been sitting in customs for the last 7 days somewhere in Kentucky [emoji58]....killlllling me!

 

[systemdelete]

The Tema4x4 spacers are branded as a generic spacer and they list all the Nissan vehicles that share the same strut bolt pattern. The Juke seems to share struts with the Leaf and the Sentra - their lighter vehicles, which makes sense considering the stock Juke is only 3100-3300 pounds.
At this point, I don't think a suspension upgrade is necessary, but the more off-road miles I put on it, the better I'll know ;)
also, just stumbling across a strut that somehow happens to get me the exact travel and height that I want AND plays nice with my front geometry sounds pretty unlikely -- I think I tried once to look for struts by length and almost no retailers get that technical.

Just so you know, Koni will build one off coil over compatible threaded body extended struts for almost anything they make struts for. They aren't cheap, but they can exist if you really want/need them to. :)

Love the build, it's very original and looks like a blast.

 

[JaxxaLuca]

Just so you know, Koni will build one off coil over compatible threaded body extended struts for almost anything they make struts for. They aren't cheap, but they can exist if you really want/need them to. :)

Love the build, it's very original and looks like a blast.

Thanks, I will look into Koni, maybe see if they make struts with external reservoir shocks. Right now, the update is that there is a possibility that the Nissan Rogue struts (might) be a direct bolt up and might actually have a bit more travel than the Juke, and at $130 for the pair, might actually be worth trying.

also, Systemdelete, I LOVE that bug! That's another one of my absurd dreams is to get a wrecked current gen one, strip it down and turn it into a new school/old school dune buggy. (definitely won't be my first or second car build though, that's for sure)

 

[JaxxaLuca]

OK, so last weekend I wasn't in the mood to drive out to the forests, so I settled for downtown and had a lot of fun and got to get a few clips of the Juke in action!

 

[Cody Stewart]

If you don’t watch out, you’re going to start a juke revolution.

 

[trikebubble]

So my Wife traded her Mini Cooper S in on a 2015 Juke SL last month. We just got back fro ma weekend road trip, and you know what? It is a fantastic little car. The boxy lifted rally type look is what drew her to it. She also wanted something that had AWD so she could drive safely in the winter.
What I find really interesting is her Juke has selectable 2WD or AWD. I don't know if other small AWD cars have that option, but form mileage it looks to be a real bonus.

Where did you locate your colored upper rear spoiler? She has seen accent kits on Juk'es online with colored spoilers, mirrors, light accents etc and I'm wondering where someone could procure something like that. 18" wheels and new tires are already in the planning stage, and I've started looking at replacement exhausts for her (the Injen cat-back exhaust seems to have perked our interest so far)

 

[JaxxaLuca]

So my Wife traded her Mini Cooper S in on a 2015 Juke SL last month. We just got back fro ma weekend road trip, and you know what? It is a fantastic little car. The boxy lifted rally type look is what drew her to it. She also wanted something that had AWD so she could
Where did you locate your colored upper rear spoiler? She has seen accent kits on Juk'es online with colored spoilers, mirrors, light accents etc and I'm wondering where someone could procure something like that. 18" wheels and new tires are already in the planning stage, and I've started looking at replacement exhausts for her (the Injen cat-back exhaust seems to have perked our interest so far)

The spoiler is a factory option, and I had just taken it off and painted it myself. The accent pieces for the 2015+ jukes are called "color studio" options, but the color selection is limited and you'd be paying hundreds of dollars on some colored plastic, so a DIY route I would definitely recommend.
I actually have the perfect video for you on my channel, where I both remove the spoiler and install wheel spacers back when I had the factory wheel and tire setup, so that might help you dial in your fitment a little. (The 17x7s are +47mm. A 35mm spacer was a little much, so I would recommend 20mm/1 inch spacer, or a rim that will get you somewhere around there)
Feel free to skip around if you're interested, I have a foul mouth and there's a lot of things I kept in for the sake of entertainment and not necessarily information, but I hope it helps you out!

 

[SubeeBen]

Frickin awesome rig good job & hats off to you & your rig/build

 

[JaxxaLuca]

This is not my rig, but son of a b-, somebody out there beat me to it! New body VW bug on a Can AM chassis! This is EXACTLY what I had in mind in one of my earlier posts, but if I had my way, I would make it hard top convertible and keep the fender flares on.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

This is not my rig, but son of a b-, somebody out there beat me to it! New body VW bug on a Can AM chassis! This is EXACTLY what I had in mind in one of my earlier posts, but if I had my way, I would make it hard top convertible and keep the fender flares on.

Sooooo sweet!